Author: Cori Cooper

Who has a hydration pack? You know what I’m talking about? One of those hiking backpacks that has a nifty hose so you can drink without stopping?

On a side note, did you know the pouch to fill with water is called a bladder?

Um, Ew.

Besides that, I love my hydration pack. It has seen me through many a hike. I fill the thing with ice and water and it stays cold for an average long hike on an average warm day. Cold water on a hike makes me feel like I could go forever! There just aren’t enough adjectives to describe how amazing my pack is.

But, there’s this one thing-

If it’s been awhile since I took a drink, that first sip of water is the worst! It’s the nasty water that’s been stopped up in the hose getting all warm and… and… nasty!

That’s right.

So, generally, what I do take a long drink and spit it out so I can get the cold water in the next swig.

Attractive I know.

Here’s where I’m going with this. My family was hiking on a super hot day in July. So hot that the bladder (ew) couldn’t keep the water cold anymore and it was all nasty.

Spirits were low. The troops were getting restless. Everyone wanted to be home where the ice cream is, but we had a good 45 minutes before we’d get there. So, here’s what I did.

I took a big old mouthful of nasty water and I spit it at my daughter.

Yes I did.

It took her a few minutes to realize what I’d done, her face was priceless, then she did it back. Then she spit nasty water on her brother. And around and around and around we went.

The rest of the hike flew by and everyone was laughing by the time we got home.

That nasty water saved us that day!

Now, here’s the point.

There are nasty parts of everything. We can be sad about it, or we can make it fun.

That’s it!

I don’t know about you guys, but I love pretzels! Not the crunchy kind you buy in bulk for $2, those are ok, they get better if you squish them up and make crust for pie.

But that’s another story.

I’m talking about homemade chewy pretzels dipped in marinara or homemade queso.

Now I’m getting hungry.

Focustrate!

Okay, Homemade pretzels are tricky to make the way I want them, generally they end up too bready and thick.

Solution?

Pretzel bites.

Much easier and just as tasty!

Ingredients:

1 C. hot to the touch tap Water

1 tsp Sugar

1 TBSP Yeast, active dry – not instant

2 1/2 C. all purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions:

Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix sugar into water. Sprinkle yeast over the top. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add salt and flour gradually until you get a tacky, not wet or sticky, dough.

Cover and rise 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 – woowoo

Spray 2 cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Mix 1/2 C. warm water with 2 TBSP Baking Soda. Stir until it dissolves. May need to heat water again to help it along.

Divide dough into 4 parts. Choose one and roll into a snake a little thicker than your thumb. Doesn’t matter how long.

Cut off bite size sections, dip in water and baking soda, place on baking sheets with space to grow a little. Sprinkle with more salt.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Rest 10 minutes.

Bake 7-8 minutes.

If you ever doubt that the kitchen is where magic happens, make German pancakes. What looks like a flavorless spread of batter in the bottom of your 9×13, when added to the oven, will become a fluffy, puffy batch of deliciousness.

In all areas of my baking life, my man loves to steal the middle. Brownies, cornbread, any sheet cake, I’ll have to remember and post some pics of things I bake that have just the middle carved out.

BUT

With German pancakes, we tussle over the edges. They are magical, crisp and buttery.

So I’m going to stop blabbing and post the recipe all ready. As an added bonus I’m sticking my favorite caramel syrup in here.

German Pancakes + Caramel Syrup + bananas + pecans = *SIGH*

Ingredients

2 TBSP Butter

6 Eggs

1 C. Whole Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 C. Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400. Put the butter in your 9×13 glass pan, then put the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until butter melts. If you wanna get sassy, brown the butter for an added depth of flavor.

Meanwhile, use a blender to combine the rest of the ingredients. Don’t go until smooth, just until combined, otherwise you’ll get no puff.

Pour the mixture into the hot pan, bake 20 minutes.

Best served right away. I don’t know how the leftovers are, never had any!

BONUS!

Caramel Syrup

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. Buttermilk – substitutions don’t work here.

1/2 C. Butter

1 1/2 C. Sugar

1 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Vanilla

Use the biggest pot you have – seriously, this thing grows like you will not believe. Bigger than big, really really ridiculously big!

Melt butter, buttermilk and sugar. Add baking soda. Heat to boiling, stir constantly, then reduce heat and simmer until it transmorgifies into a deep rich caramel color. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

This will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, but I doubt it will last that long. The only reason I know is cause I put it in a squeezy bottle labeled BBQ sauce and forgot about it until my daughter put it on her hamburger about 3 weeks later.

BONUS #2

Always check your squeezy bottles for previously sharpied labels.

Ok see ya!

I have been writing since I was six years old.

Yeah…. Like most people.

But, I’m talking about more than just taking pencil to paper, I’m talking about writing stories. Inventing Characters, Weaving Tales… I have stacks of notebooks bursting with ideas.

Ideas like the stars.

Millions and gazillions!

So, so many, with new ones popping up everyday.

I don’t think any idea is too small, or too dim. Everyone of my new ideas is bright and shiny with the potential to change the world!

I’m not saying it will…. 🙂

I’m just saying, I like to believe in everything. I choose to see potential everywhere. I love the challenge of squinting into the dark for the faintest glimmer and then helping it truly shine.

Who LOVES Fall! OOO OOO OOO! Pick me!!

I LOVE the crisp air, the smell of wood stoves, the changing colors – gorgeous. I LOVE pulling out my sweaters, leggings and super cute boots, I LOVE baking with apples, pumpkins and winter squash.

But

My FAVORITE thing about Fall is Pumpkin.

I might be a little bit obsessed. I stock up on cans of pumpkin and horde them for my favorite recipes. I have a whole notebook devoted to pumpkin recipes that I LOVE. and I can’t wait to start baking the instant it gets cold enough to turn on the heater at night!

Today I share with you one of my favorite recipes. I left out the half cup of Pecans, because…. some people and nuts, but it is really, really good with the Pecans if that’s your jam. Just add them into the food processor after you’ve mixed the crust ingredients, for a quick pulse or two to break them up.

HAPPY FALL Y’ALL

Ingredients

1 3/4 sticks Butter

1 1/2 C. Flour

1 1/2 C. Old fashioned Oats

3/4 C. Brown Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

Filling

1 1/2 C. Pumpkin canned

3/4 C. Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

2 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice

1 tsp Cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until it comes together. Press half into a 9×13 baking dish.

Mix filling ingredients, spread over crust. Sprinkle remaining topping over the top, evenly distributed.

Bake 30 minutes.Cool completely, drizzle with Caramel Sauce. Refrigerate before serving so they set up to easily cut.

Oh yeah – let’s talk about caramel sauce!

Here is my bestest favorite caramel recipe forever. That’s BFCRF for those of you who notice those kinds of things. It’s great on pancakes, dessert toppings or ice cream. Also squeezing from the bottle into your mouth, but if you bring that up later, I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Caramel Sauce

3/4 C. Buttermilk

1 tsp light Corn Syrup

1/4 C. Butter

3/4 C. Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla

Mix all ingredients except vanilla in a super huge pot. Don’t look at me weird, I know it’s only like 1 cup of liquid, but the baking soda gives it lofty ideas, so trust me on this one. You don’t want to be cleaning caramel off of your stove top.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer until it becomes a rich, deep caramel color, you know what I’m talking about. About 10-20 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. keeps in the refrigerator for 1 month but I seriously doubt it will last that long.

What is it about star gazing that makes us want to do more, be more, create something amazing? What is it about looking at the night sky that fills the soul up with possibilities?

I can’t answer that, but I LOVE it!

Possibilities are my favorite.

So is smiling. Smiling is also my favorite. 🙂

This week I signed a contract to publish one of my novels. I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was six years old and now, it is happening.

Dreams come true. Wishes are granted. Belief grows into knowledge. Imagination becomes reality and IMPOSSIBLE goals are so…. not… impossible.

Never, Never, Never stop dreaming.

I finished my first round of Self-Edits with the Immortal Works Publishing guide!

Which is hilarious, by the way! I love a guide that cracks jokes. It was so super fun to read through.

I wondered if deadlines and intensive editing would suck the fun out of writing for me.

Do you wonder that?

Here’s what I’ve discovered.

While it is a lot of time in front of a screen, which has the potential to turn your mind into mushy jello if not interspersed with other activities…

The results are thrilling!!

I’ve learned SO much about my writing. My strengths and especially my weaknesses. It’s exciting! Because, how can we strength a weakness we don’t know about?

Already, I feel like my manuscript has received a much needed facial! I can’t wait to see what happens as the editing process continues!

SO, yeah, LOVING IT!

I’ve made it my mission for the last couple of months to seek and bake the best brownies on the planet.

That is a lofty goal.

But… go big or go home right?

Right!

Since Brownies are a matter of taste, like everything else, I tried a gazillion recipes that claimed to be the BEST BROWNIES EVER! But I didn’t LOVE LOVE any of them – and like Anton Ego says on the movie Ratatouille – “I don’t like food, I love it. If I don’t love it – I don’t swallow.”

I couldn’t swallow most of the recipes I tried.

And then….

(you know this was going to have a happy ending right? I wouldn’t be writing the post if I were still miserably searching for a Brownie Recipe I could call my own.)

I did it!

With some tweaks and turns I happened upon a Brownie Recipe that makes all of my dreams come true. Fudgity, chewy, with that funky crust on the top. I don’t know why it does that, but Brownies aren’t real brownies without it.

SO, here you have it. The Brownies of my Dreams!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. Butter

2 C. Chocolate Chips (milk or dark depending on your jam)

2 C. Sugar (1 1/2 if using milk chocolate)

2 TBSP Vanilla

8 Eggs

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 C. Cocoa Powder (Note – I use really good quality cocoa powder. you don’t HAVE to, but I think it adds so much to a recipe. My fave is Guittard Dutch processed. Fantastical!)

2 1/2 C. Flour (I love Cake Flour for Brownies)

1 C. Chocolate Chips (not a typo – you’ll see)

Instructions:

Melt butter, chocolate chips and sugar together until smooth. Add vanilla. Beat eggs with salt until fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and chocolate chips. These chips stay mostly whole, giving you those bites of happiness sprinkled throughout the Brownie.

Stir wet and dry ingredients together JUST until combined. Spread in greased 9×13 dish for thicker brownies or a for thinner brownies, use a greased cookie sheet, (I think that’s like 13×18 or something.)

Bake 350 for 25 minutes, for the thin, 40 for the thick. They won’t look done in the middle but will set up in the 20-30 minutes they rest on top of the oven.

Cool completely before cutting. If you’ve got time, it’s good to refrigerate for an hour or so before cutting,

NOW THE FUN PART

VARIATIONS!

*substitute the chocolate chips that go in with the flour mixture with Andes mints! If you like Mint, you will LOVE this.

*Add mini marshmallows and pecans with the flour mixture to make Rocky Road Brownies

BEST COOKIES EVER

2 C. Pumpkin

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Butter, softened

2 tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

5 C. Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350, prepare 4-5 cookies sheets with cooking spray.

In a stand mixture, because it might burn out your hand mixer, no joke, combine Pumpkin, Sugar, Butter, Vanilla and Eggs.

Separately mix together Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice.

Slowly add to stand mixer while it’s on low. Any higher then that and you’ll get flour to the face.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

When just barely barely combined, add chocolate chips. Mix as minimally as possible. Turn off the mixture and mix by hand a couple of times, just to be sure the chocolate chips got all the way through the batter. You don’t want to be the person with the lame chocolate-less cookie.

Use a cookie scoop to measure 15 – 20 cookies per cookie sheet. They usually expand up instead of out so you can probably squish the 20 on there.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely on the cookie sheet.

There is nothing like the sky on a clear night in the mountains. The stars are so bright, they look so close, it feels like you could reach out and chose one to put in your pocket for later.

Have you ever wished on a star? The first or the brightest?

This is one of my most favorite things to do.

I love to wish,

I love to dream,

I love to imagine all the possibilities.

Dreams come true, my friends.